c. 1996 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) As athletes descend upon Atlanta for the Summer Olympics eyeing medals of gold, silver and bronze, teams of religious people are setting their sights on more timeless values.

Inside the Olympic Village, 38 chaplains are ready to provide scriptural studies, prayer services and one-on-one chats with athletes of faiths ranging from Christianity and Judaism to Buddhism, Baha’i, Hinduism and Islam. And beyond the boundaries of the village where the Olympic competitors reside, a variety of religious groups are preparing to provide housing to athletes’ families, cups of water to thirsty tourists and evangelistic tracts to anyone who passes by.

Religion definitely has its place during the fast, fleeting world of the Olympics _ a festival that began as a pagan tribute to the Greek god Zeus. And though there is some disagreement, especially among some Christian groups, about whether to use the games as an opportunity to seek converts, all are united in the hope that their values will be sustained far beyond the closing ceremonies Aug. 4.”It’s difficult in a rarefied atmosphere of the Olympics to keep that kind of perspective, but I think that’s what we really would like to do _ to be a grounding place for athletes in terms of what are the really significant things in (our) lives,”said Rabbi Brett Isserow of Atlanta, who is training chaplains for the Olympics and is one of the clergy volunteers who will serve inside the Olympic Village.

But some people of faith insist that evangelism is the best way to demonstrate the importance of their beliefs at the Olympics.”Of course, for us, evangelism is the focus because we are commanded to go into all the world”and evangelize, said Sharon Burcham, manager for Games Outreach, an evangelical Christian initiative in Atlanta that is organizing ministry teams from across the United States to come to Atlanta during the sports event.”The world is coming to our door. … How often do we have the opportunity to have the world come to us?” Burcham expects tens of thousands of people to converge on Atlanta to proselytize. Others are expected to participate in Olympics-related evangelism around the globe.

Another group, Sports Outreach America, a consortium of sports-related Christian ministries intent on using the games as a platform for evangelism, have created a home page on the Internet (http://www.gospelcom.net/rbc/soa/games/) to encourage participants to purchase resources to”reach your community for Christ around the Summer Games.” Sports Outreach America is one of many groups involved in a”More than Gold”campaign that includes literature, videos, and music combining sports themes with Christian evangelism.

But others working in Atlanta would rather send a message of hospitality than evangelism.

Isserow, the trainer of chaplains in the Olympic Village, said he hopes the clergy working inside the village will provide support and encouragement for athletes who find themselves under stress and far from home. Olympic Village chaplains are forbidden to proselytize.”We would hope that … through the way we conduct ourselves on a daily basis that respect and regard for the people’s religion is really paramount in all of our lives,”said Isserow, associate rabbi at The Temple on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, a Reform synagogue.”Our job is to be here for them, not making them part of us.” Atlanta church groups from across a wide theological spectrum are participating in Quest Atlanta ’96, a cooperative effort designed to blend Olympic sports and religious outreach.

The Rev. Kirk Bridgers, chairman of Quest’s board, is proud of the”extremely diverse”network of churches _ mainline and evangelical Protestants, Roman Catholics and Orthodox _ that represent 29 denominations.”We created a menu of options and invited congregations to jump in at their point of zeal or fervor,”explained Bridgers, pastor of Peachtree Road Lutheran Church, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.”That included proclamation of the Gospel all the way to demonstration of the Gospel, from sheer evangelism, if you will, all the way to social justice.” Initiatives by the ecumenical group include providing athletes’ families with free lodging and breakfast, social action to help the homeless, opportunities for evangelism, prayer for spiritual revival and improved race relations.

Bridgers said he hopes tensions among the more than 1,500 participating Atlanta churches about how best to serve the Olympic visitors can be eased with the range of ministry choices.

But Quest also chose to make some rules about proselytizing. All participating denominations approved”The Code of A Gracious Atlanta Host.””The host family will treat their guests with dignity and respect regardless of whether or not they are Christian,”reads a two-page set of ground rules.”We will be respectful of the dietary, hygienic and religious diversity of our guests without any attempt to remonstrate or proselytize.” Bridgers acknowledged that not everyone may follow the code, but said,”We hope they’re the exception rather than the rule.” Beyond the immediate ministry to Olympics visitors, Bridgers hopes the long-term result of the denominations working together is better cooperation within the Atlanta church community long after the Olympics are history.

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Cooperation is the main goal of the chaplains who will be working directly with the athletes in the Olympic Village.”What we’re trying to do is create the experience for the athletes that they need in order to compete at their very best,”said the Rev. Elmer Goble, manager of religious activities and a chaplain at the Olympic Village.

Other chaplains who will work in the village hope to help the athletes deal with the highs and the lows of the sports experience.”I’m expecting there will be some emotional trauma associated with planning and anticipating victory and many will not have the victory that they wish,”said the Rev. Steve Overall, a chaplain at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta and the chairman of the Interfaith Advisory Group that designed the Olympic chaplaincy program.

During the chaplains’ training, Isserow said the clergy were reminded that they may be supporting winners as well as losers, for the thrill of victory may be short-lived.”The cameras are gone and the spotlight’s gone and suddenly their world’s beginning to crumble,”he said.

Goble, like all those involved in the religious aspects of the Olympics, said faith is simply too important a part of some people’s lives to set it aside during the weeks of the competition.”For some of these athletes a very significant part of who they are is their religious makeup,”said Goble, who directs volunteer projects for the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board.”If we just didn’t care about that and didn’t provide for them that avenue for them to express themselves, we would be missing out on a whole important dimension of a lot of these athletes’ lives.”

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